Rachel Rockwell to make her Goodman debut with 'Brigadoon'

Rachel Rockwell, the Chicago director whose career has flourished at such musical theaters as the Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace and the Paramount Theatre in Aurora, is to make her Goodman Theatre debut in the summer of 2014.

Rockwell will direct a new, revised version of the classic 1947 Broadway show "Brigadoon," a whimsical musical comedy set in the Scottish Highlands that comes with a now-creaky book but a formidable score including such standards as "Almost Like Being in Love."

"Brigadoon" has a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe, and has not been revived on Broadway since 1980. In an interview Tuesday, daughter Liza Lerner said that she has authorized (and wants) revisions.

"We're not going to use the original Agnes De Mille choreography," she said. "Rachel has some ideas about that. The story is the story and that won't change, but some of the dialog needs updating and it might be a little earthier and sexier."

If all goes well, Rockwell's Goodman production could well have a life beyond Chicago, and potentially become the new licensable version of a show that once was a very popular title but has slipped in exposure in recent years.

"Our goal," said Rockwell, "is to freshen up the show without scaring the purists to death. People have a deep, abiding love for 'Brigadoon.'"

In his first budget address to lawmakers, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf laid out an ambitious $33.8 billion spending plan that raises taxes a combined 16 percent while slashing corporate and property taxes, restores cuts to education and wipes out the state's deficit.